A movie that I'd always wanted to get around to watching so that I could do a blog post on it is the Paul Newman film The Verdict. (There's another film from the 1940s with the same name but a different plot.) Anyhow, the Paul Newman movie was on TCM early this year, so I made a point of recording it to eventually watch it and do that post.
Newman plays Frank Galvin, a Boston attorney who is way past his prime. Not only that, but he's turned to drink, spending his day looking at the obituaries and going to the vieweing hours of those deceased who might be a suitable candidate for a wrongful death lawsuit, something that obviously pisses off the bereaved who understand what's going on with Galvin. But then fate intervenes and throws a big case right into his lap.
Deborah Ann Kaye was a young wife, nine months pregnant, who had a problem delivery that necessitated a Caesarian section. But while under anesthesia, she aspirated some of her food, which resulted in heart stoppage and brain damage. Kaye survived, but it in a permanent vegetative state. Deborah's sister Sally Doneghy (Roxanne Hart) and her husband Kevin (James Handy) would like a settlement from the Archdiocese of Boston, since they run the hospital where the botched operation was performed.
Meanwhile, the Archdiocese just wants to have the case be handled quietly so that nobody finds out what happens. Bishop Brophy (Edward Binns) has a high-powered law firm at his disposal, led by Ed Concannon (James Mason). They offer the Doneghys a substantial settlement, and since Galvin is taking the case on a contingency basis, he'd get a third of that, which would leave him financially secure for at least several years.
At this point, Frank does something that should probably be considered legal malpractice: as far as we can see, Frank doesn't tell the Doneghys about the settlement, considering that they're not in the room for the proposal and Kevin gets mighty pissed on finding out about it later in the movie. Frank figures the Archdiocese must be hiding something; further, since this is probably his last big chance, he's going to go looking for justice, with a little help from a former law partner now retired, Mickey Morrissey (Jack Warden).
Galvin's personal life may be about to take a turn for the better, too. One day at the bar, he meets Laura Fischer (Charlotte Rampling), new to Boston and looking for an apartment. Galvin runs into her the next day, too, and so decides to take him back his apartment to see if there's anything more to the possible relationship. She winds up working as a sort of secretary, always being around Galvin and Morrissey.
The defense side of the case isn't about to give up, and Kincannon is trying to shut down every last possible angle of attack that Galvin might be able to come up with. And with an entire firm at his disposal, he's got a lot of people who can investigate Galvin's comings and goings and possible witnesses, something that continually frustrates Galvin. Further frustrating him is the judge, Hoyle (Milo O'Shea), who seems consistently on the side of the defendant, to the point that Galvin would probably have reasonable grounds for a mistrial or a change of judge. The judge asking leading questions to one of Galvin's expert witnesses certainly seemed off to me.
The case proceeds all the way through the trial and with a jury verdict, and you can probably guess how that's going to go. The Verdict is only partly about the trial, and much more a character study of Frank Galvin. Paul Newman is excellent as Galvin, in a role many consider his finest. I'm not certain if I can pick one finest performance from Newman, as Hud and Nobody's Fool, among others, are also tremendous performances from Newman.
But it's not just Newman who is in top form here. James Mason is still bringing it in his 70s as a man who seems like an elegant pillar of society on the surface, but is pretty darn ruthless beneath that exterior. Rampling is good although I think she's not quite given enough to do. All of the supporting roles do fine jobs with the material they're given, too. The location shooting does a very nice job of capturing the working-class side of Boston that's decidedly not the Back Bay Boston Brahmins.
All in all, The Verdict is an outstanding movie, and if you haven't seen it, make it a point to do so. It's that good.
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